MOScout Daily Update: Land for Parking Peace? - Fitzwater for Deering - Pouche Adds $100K - Fire District Filing Fees and more…

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Cupps: Land for Parking Peace?

The House truly agreed and finally passed Rep. Dave Griffin’s HB 2108.  It’s a land conveyance bill tied to a Jefferson City project for roundabouts and safety improvements near state facilities.

Before the vote, Rep. Scott Cupps said that this generosity from the state to Jefferson City should be returned with some gratitude: free parking!

I only feel like it’d be appropriate that if the state is gifting not one, but two pieces of property worth potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars that it only seems appropriate that the city could maybe not charge parking tickets that are, in my opinion, grossly unfair to our constituents when they come from all corners of the state to this city, not to visit the city, but to visit their state Capitol.

WSJ: Roundup Before SCOTUS

The Wall Street Journal reports on Bayer before the Supreme Court yesterday…

The Supreme Court grilled Bayer over whether it is liable for failing to warn consumers that its flagship weedkiller Roundup might cause cancer, in a case that could wipe out thousands of legal claims and help bring closure to a battle that has engulfed the company for years.

·       Justices across the ideological spectrum on Monday appeared receptive to arguments that the pharmaceutical and agriculture company can be sued for damages under a Missouri law requiring companies to warn consumers about risks from their products, even though the product wasn’t mislabeled under federal law because regulators had determined it was safe to use.

Senate 10: Fitzwater for Deering

Mike Deering kicks off his Senate 10 campaign tonight with special guests that include former Governor Mike Parson, and outgoing incumbent Sen. Travis Fitzwater…

Meanwhile

Deering’s Republican rival, Rep. Tricia Byrnes amended her April fundraising report, removing a $65,000 contribution from herself which appears to have been made in error.  That lowered her cash on-hand from $135K to $70K.

Senate 34: Pouche Adds Another $100K

Rep. Sean Pouche tossed in another $100,000 to his Senate 34 campaign.  Pouche had previously loaned his campaign $130,000.  This brings his total investment up to $230,000.

Pouche faces Rep. Mike Jones and Ryan Gerster in a race which was jump-started anew when Congressman Sam Graves announced his retirement and lured Nathan Willett away.

·       There’s always naysayers on self-funded candidates who doubt whether the candidate will really spend their own money, or wonder if they’re window-dressing to entice others.  We’ll see…

Fire District Filing Fees

At Rep. Jim Murphy’s presentation of HB 1791 in the Senate Local Government Committee yesterday, something interesting happened.  One of the bill’s minor provisions is to remove a filing fee when running for a fire district.

Nominations and declarations of candidacy shall be filed at the headquarters of the fire protection district by [paying a filing fee equal to the amount of a candidate for county office as set forth under section 115.357, and] filing a statement under oath that such person possesses the required qualifications.

Veteran lobbyist Jorgan Schlemeier testified about the origin of that provision: “I remember working on this bill to insert a fee into the statute many years ago… in many of the areas, [when there was no filing fee] you had 25, 30 people on the ballot. The cost to the fire district to run that election was so expensive… I think there needs to be some fee in there because [otherwise] this will have a substantial fiscal note to local fire districts when you get 25, 30 people on the ballot like we had back in the early nineties.”

What It Means

Murphy is about to be termed out after eight years of service in the House.  And here’s Schlemeier referencing legislative history from 30 years ago to point to potential unintended consequences.  In the age of term limits, the lobbyists are the stewards of institutional knowledge.

November Elections Coming

We’re just about six months away from the mid-terms.  Goldman Sachs’ best case scenario right now still has crude oil sitting at $80/barrel…

Stenger Cash ‘Discrepancy’ Still Unresolved

Former County Executive Steve Stenger’s January campaign finance report said there was a “discrepancy between cash on hand [$142,258] and cash in the account. The committee is working to resolve the discrepancy and will file amended reports upon resolution if necessary.”

·       Three months later, still no amended report has been filed.

Gubby Appts

Governor Mike Kehoe announced two gubernatorial appointments.

·       Heather Sicks, of Kansas City, was appointed to the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners.

·       Glenda Shockley, of Hermann, was appointed as the Gasconade County Collector.

$5K+ Contributions

Citizens for Sean Pouche - $100,000 from Sean Pouche.

Lobbyist Registrations

Gordon Louis Glaus added Saint Francis Medical Center.

Jay Hahn added Standard Wellness Company, LLC.

Scott Penman and Kaycee Nail deleted Western Governors University.

Derek Coats deleted Ashbritt, Inc.

Happy Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Rep. David Casteel, Justice Zel Fischer, Tina Shannon, Adam Schnelting, Ashley Bland Manlove, and Brian Yates.